This Dodge campaign is just a stunt

Automobile companies, why do you vex us so? As if “Imported from (the bankrupt city of) Detroit” was bad enough, now you have to lose yourself in the comedy styling of Ron Burgundy?

At first, I thought it was an entertaining cobranding ad of the new Dodge Durango and Will Ferrell’s new movie “Anchorman 2.” Well, it is that, but it has become clear to me that what I thought was a one off was actually the first salvo in an entire campaign by Dodge.

“Are we, the consuming public, supposed to think, ‘If it is good enough for a Ron Burgundy joke, it’s good enough for me?’”

If you are a fan of Will Ferrell and his Ron Burgundy character, you will probably like the ads. But it won’t sell cars. The ads are not about the Durango. They are about Ron. The Durango is nothing more than a prop – and even a prop that’s mocked.

Dodge has either given up on its brand or its brand definition is so thin that it has run out of things to say.

Are we, the consuming public, supposed to think, “If it is good enough for a Ron Burgundy joke, it’s good enough for me?” Dodge is not taking its brand seriously. If Dodge isn’t going to take its brand seriously, how can we?

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Dodge gives its brand to Ron Burgundy was last modified: July 16th, 2018 by Tom Dougherty